Obituary: Charlie Branson, 1925-2013

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Charlie Louis Branson died in Muskogee, Okla., on Tuesday at 87 years of age. Charlie was born in Centerville, Ark., Aug. 18, 1925, to Louis Jefferson and Gertrude (Carmond) Branson. He grew up in McCoy.

Charlie was a veteran of the United States Navy and served in the Pacific theater during World War II and was on Iwo Jima when the American flag was raised. He loved being outdoors, fishing, hunting and horseback riding, but gardening was his passion. He was known to crawl to his garden to work. In the early 1980s, he moved to Oklahoma. He was a rancher and owned the Hitchita Country Corner Store for many years. Charlie was a Mason and a member of the family of God.

Charlie was preceded in death by the mother of his children Mary Louise (Shue) Branson, step-son Marty Meadows, step-daughter Mary Ann West; granddaughter Angela Dawn Branson; three sisters, Elsie Manns, Marion Branson and Ola Prater; and one brother, Clarence Branson.

He is survived by his wife Merry D. (Clay) Branson of the home; three daughters, Elsie Marie Hopkins and husband Wilen, of Salida, H. Charlene Kirby and husband LeRoy, of McCoy, and Karen Branson, of Checotah; two step-sons, James A. Meadows and wife Debbie, of Tyron, Okla., and Joe Dean Meadows of Oklahoma City, Okla.; 11 grandchildren; 17 great-grandchildren and one more on the way; two sisters, Melbadean Winslow and husband Jack, and Eldora Ray and husband Jack, both of Eufaula; and numerous special nieces, nephews and other relatives.